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Topic Review (Newest First)

03-10-2012 09:03 AM

Serendipitous

Re: Lake sailors: how do you like your wind?

Quote:

Jess - I didn't read too much, but, that is a good QUALITY blog.

Thank you We've actually had it for a few years now and it just got a major face-lift a few weeks ago. Still trying to work out a few kinks to get it exactly the way we want it, but man, that kind of stuff can be hard work! I appreciate the feedback, these are actually the first comments I've had about the blog.

03-10-2012 12:43 AM

lynxcat319

Re: Lake sailors: how do you like your wind?

pretty fickle winds on the resevoir I am generaly on.JUst out side of Denver and 5200 above sea level.days go from 2 to 30 in an instant and the only warning is the ripples on the water.Changes directions every 10 minute.it is good and deep though,so dont get the hard chop,just ripples of white caps in rows.The lake is almost center between work and home so it makes for good weekday evening sails.and there are no conditions out side of pouring rain to keep me off if I need a sail.If it rains while I am out I just cruise till they dry out,and if that dont happen it is a great reason to go back the next day and dry em out.The boat is a 23' venture newport cutter.one tuff boat..

03-09-2012 10:48 PM

Barquito

Re: Lake sailors: how do you like your wind?

Jess - I didn't read too much, but, that is a good QUALITY blog.

03-09-2012 07:30 PM

Serendipitous

Re: Lake sailors: how do you like your wind?

Quote:

Nice blog, Jessica. I burned a little of Friday afternoon at work reading it today. Are you planning to update it soon?

Thanks. I just started a facebook page last month that will get better updates. As far as the blog....I'm working on getting caught up. You may not know it but I just posted 'The Day The Spiders Have Their Parade' this past Sunday. Getting there though and pretty soon there will be actual work commencing on the boat again that I'll want to write about. Now that I know someone's reading I'll have to get my butt in gear.

03-09-2012 05:49 PM

itsaboat

Re: Lake sailors: how do you like your wind?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serendipitous

I start to get concerned when winds are over 25 knots but will still suck it up until they're over 30 and then maybe it's time to start heading back in. Earlier though if the waves are starting to build.

Sounds wise. We had a fun little adventure this week that resulted in popping some sail slides due to an ill-timed wind gust during a jibe. Turns out that the slides were old and a $0.75 a piece to replace, it might be the least expensive fix we ever get to do on the boat!

Nice blog, Jessica. I burned a little of Friday afternoon at work reading it today. Are you planning to update it soon?

03-08-2012 08:46 PM

Serendipitous

Re: Lake sailors: how do you like your wind?

I'm an east coast Lake Michigan sailor. Since I'm not a racer and not in the need for speed most of the time, I'd say a perfect day for me is winds at 15 knots, enough to keep us moving along but not so windy I have to start putting on layers. Kind of defeats the purpose of a day out in the sun, right?

I start to get concerned when winds are over 25 knots but will still suck it up until they're over 30 and then maybe it's time to start heading back in. Earlier though if the waves are starting to build.

03-08-2012 08:22 PM

KIVALO

Re: Lake sailors: how do you like your wind?

Small world, I have spent a lot of time on Cayuga Lake. For some reason the Cayuga County Sheriff's Department actually paid me to spend all day out there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobmcgov

I grew up on Canandaigua Lake & did a lot of windsurfing there. But most of our sailing was on Cayuga Lake, where we had a cottage near Union Springs. Forty miles long, 1-2 miles wide, and you can still drown in it. Owasco is a pretty little lake. We have distant relatives in Auburn.

03-08-2012 08:04 PM

jbogart

Re: Lake sailors: how do you like your wind?

I sail Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota. I live about two hours from it so when I go (every possible weekend) I look at the weather report to see what kind of wind I might experience.

The only thing I can say with certainty is that for at least 10 minutes of sailing the weather forecast is accurate

03-08-2012 04:42 PM

bobmcgov

Re: Lake sailors: how do you like your wind?

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsaboat

Wow, that makes the 15- 20 kt winds with gusts to 25 kts yesterday seem tame. I have to give it to you for your commitment to sailing.

Our season is short, & you can't 'pick your days' cuz every day has crazy built into it. Look how blue the sky is in the wind meter shot -- it's not like that 41 mph announced itself with a thunderhead, or anything. (The lenticular clouds might be a clue, heh). Ours are mostly katabatic winds, caused by geography: extremely localized pressure and temperature differences, rather than fronts or storm cells. (Tho we get those too.)

Here's a typical week in June -- one of our calmer months. The weather station only logs every 30 minutes, so it tends to miss peak gusts. But you get the idea.

Luckily, the water is solid by November:

Quote:

Originally Posted by KIVALO

What Finger Lake? Owasco for me.

I grew up on Canandaigua Lake & did a lot of windsurfing there. But most of our sailing was on Cayuga Lake, where we had a cottage near Union Springs. Forty miles long, 1-2 miles wide, and you can still drown in it. Owasco is a pretty little lake. We have distant relatives in Auburn.

03-08-2012 02:21 PM

KIVALO

Re: Lake sailors: how do you like your wind?

What Finger Lake? Owasco for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobmcgov

Hoo boy. How do we like our wind? Not very well, thank you. Sailing n the Finger Lakes as a kid, I thought I knew about quirky, frustrating, shifty winds. Nuh-uh. Start in SE Wyoming, one of the windiest places on the planet. Add 7300' elevation. Stir in mad convection activity caused by 12,000' mountains, just a handful of miles away. And what you get is sailing like nothing I've ever experienced.

Here's a photo from a fairly typical day on our little mountain lake:

Left the mooring singlehand in 15mph; just got the jib up when it jumped to 41 mph (middle number); put the jib away, reefed the main; five minutes later, the wind backed 90 degrees and settled down to alternating (buffeting) 15-25, which is when I took the photo. IIRC, it later dropped to 3-5 -- from exactly the other side of the compass.

Upslope, downslope. Never the least hint it's coming, either. Here we are crashing back to the beach, having been caught out with two second-time sailors as crew. Doesn't look bad in the foregound because we are behind a little point; look at the smoke blowing off in the distance. Windsurfers clocked it at 42kts, that afternoon.

Happens almost.every.day.

But ya know, you deal with it. You set up your boat, and you learn to deal with it. The alternative is never going out. The only sad thing is that we sometimes hesitate to bring newbs or small kids along, just because it can scare them badly. And we don't often get to practice spinnaker sailing, cuz it's just too dangerous.

Some good sailors come off small inland lakes, tho. You learn to read the shifts, trim sails fast, and you tack & gybe a hundred times a day.

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